Put Arabic on the curriculum, charity says
Sunday Herald
- Moves are under way to get Arabic taught to schoolchildren in Scotland. Muslim charity Dar Al-Falaah Community Education Association has begun lobbying MSPs for the inclusion of the language in Curriculum for Excellence. The charity, which delivers weekend classes, says there is a high demand for the subject.
School evacuated after bag of grenades found
Daily Record
- A primary was evacuated after a bag of Second World War grenades was found in its grounds. Staff and students at Macmerry Primary near Tranent, in East Lothian, were rushed out at 8.30am after construction workers uncovered the explosives. The school was to remain closed this week while an Army bomb disposal unit searched the area.
Making the grade for Edinburgh students
The Scotsman
- The University of Edinburgh has become the latest to set its entry standards for students emerging from Scotland’s new curriculum. It said top grades were still the main benchmark, but added that exam marks would be “unlikely to be sufficient to gain an offer”. Depth and relevance of study would be important and entry to Edinburgh would be a holistic decision.
Calls for abuse forum to have greater powers
The Herald
- Calls will be made this week to give a proposed forum for survivors of abuse in Scottish children’s homes more powers - including the ability to award compensation to victims. MSPs on Holyrood’s health committee will be urged by Barnardo’s, the children’s charity, to give the National Confidential Forum significantly more clout than envisaged in the Victims and Witnesses (Scotland) Bill.
Nurseries failing to teach basic manners
Scottish Daily Mail
- Nurseries are breeding a generation of toddlers with “no manners” - unable even to sit still and listen to a teacher by the time they get to primary, a minister has warned. Westminster schools and childcare minister Elizabeth Truss condemned the laissez-faire doctrine of pre-school settings that allow toddlers to do exactly what they want.
